Noun as Adjective

As you know, a noun is a person, place or thing, and an adjective is a word

that describes a noun:

adjective noun
clever teacher
small office
black horse

Sometimes we use a noun to describe another noun. In that case, the first
noun "acts as" an adjective.

Noun as Adjective noun

History teacher
ticket office
race horse

The "noun as adjective" always comes first

If you remember this it will help you to understand what is being talked
about:

• a race horse is a horse that runs in races

• a horse race is a race for horses
• a boat race is a race for boats
• a love story is a story about love
• a war story is a story about war
• a tennis ball is a ball for playing tennis
• tennis shoes are shoes for playing tennis
• a computer exhibition is an exhibition of computers
 • a bicycle shop is a shop that sells bicycles

The "noun as adjective" is singular

Just like a real adjective, the "noun as adjective" is invariable. It is usually in

the singular form.

Right Wrong
boat race boat races NOT boats race, boats races
toothbrush toothbrushes NOT teethbrush, teethbrushes
shoe-lace shoe-laces NOT shoes-lace, shoes-laces
cigarette packet cigarette packets NOT cigarettes packet, cigarettes packets

In other words, if there is a plural it is on the real noun only.

A few nouns look plural but we usually treat them as singular (for example
news, billiards, athletics). When we use these nouns "as adjectives" they are
unchanged:

• a news reporter, three news reporters

• one billiards table, four billiards tables
• an athletics trainer, fifty athletics trainers

Exceptions:
When we use certain nouns "as adjectives" (clothes, sports, customs,
accounts, arms), we use them in the plural form:

• clothes shop, clothes shops

• sports club, sports clubs
• customs duty, customs duties
• accounts department, accounts departments
• arms production
How do we write the "noun as adjective"?

We write the "noun as adjective" and the real noun in several different ways:

• two separate words (car door)

• two hyphenated words (book-case)
• one word (bathroom)

There are no easy rules for this. We even write some combinations in two or
all three different ways: (head master, head-master, headmaster)

How do we say the "noun as adjective"?

For pronunciation, we usually stress the first word:

• shoe shop
• boat-race
• bathroom

Can we have more than one "noun as adjective"?

Yes. Just like adjectives, we often use more than one "noun as adjective"
together. Look at these examples:

car production costs: we are talking about the costs of producing cars

noun as noun as
adjective adjective noun
costs
production costs
car production costs
England football team coach: we are talking about the coach who trains
the team that plays football for England

noun as noun as noun as

adjective adjective adjective noun
coach
team coach
football team coach
England football team coach

Note: in England football team coach can you see a "hidden" "noun as
adjective"? Look at the word "football" (foot-ball). These two nouns
(foot+ball) have developed into a single noun (football). This is one way that
words evolve. Many word combinations that use a "noun as adjective" are
regarded as nouns in their own right, with their own dictionary definition. But
not all dictionaries agree with each other. For example, some dictionaries list
"tennis ball" as a noun and other dictionaries do not.

government road accident research centre: we are talking about a

centre that researches into accidents on the road for the government

noun as noun as noun as noun as

adjective adjective adjective adjective noun
centre
research centre
accident research centre
road accident research centre
government road accident research centre

Newspapers often use many nouns together in headlines to save space. Look
at this example:
BIRD HEALTH RESEARCH CENTRE MURDER MYSTERY

To understand headlines like these, try reading them backwards. The above
headline is about a MYSTERY concerning a MURDER in a CENTRE for
RESEARCH into the HEALTH of BIRDS.

Note, too, that we can still use a real adjective to qualify a "noun as
adjective" structure:

• empty coffee jar

• honest car salesman
• delicious dog food
• rising car production costs
• famous England football team coach